Earnhardt Is Stuck In a Snarl Over No. 8

By VIV BERNSTEIN

Published: July 4, 2007

Perhaps never has a paint job created so much suspense.

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins his new team in Nascar's top series, he will be taking an unparalleled fan base and giant merchandise machine with him, one that has generated hundreds of millions of dollars from a $2 billion licensing industry. All are waiting to see what color, sponsor and number will be associated with the most popular driver in the sport when he moves to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008.

''Certainly this is going to be the most eagerly anticipated car paint scheme that I can think of in recent memory, if not in modern Nascar history,'' Mark Dyer, the president and chairman of the retailer Motorsports Authentics and the former vice president for licensing for Nascar, said in a telephone interview.

In nine years behind the wheel of the red No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, Earnhardt has elevated that number to premier status alongside his father's famed No. 3. But Junior Nation may have to get used to a new number. The No. 8 will not automatically go with him from Dale Earnhardt Inc. Nascar has the final say over which numbers drivers use, although series officials have usually allowed teams to negotiate the transfer. There is no telling if Hendrick and D.E.I. can work out a deal for the use of the No. 8, though.

Even if Earnhardt officials were willing to part with the rights to use the number, which has been closely associated with their team for several years, it would be a challenge for them to determine a value for the No. 8 -- particularly when the marketing value drops without Earnhardt Jr. in the racecar.

''You find that there are many times an athlete will pay money to keep the number they had before,'' Marc Ganis, a sports consultant based in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. ''Does it make any difference? The answer is, it really doesn't unless the number itself has marketing value to it. It probably has some, but not a whole heck of a lot.''

Geoff Smith, the president of Roush Fenway Racing, said: ''Dale Jr.'s fan following is tied to him and not tied to his number. That's been the proven scenario for a long time, that fans are tied to the driver, not to the number.''

There is a chance that Earnhardt will end up in a similar-looking racecar if he maintains his primary sponsor, Budweiser, and Hendrick makes a deal for the No. 8. But that is not likely to happen. Teresa Earnhardt, the owner of D.E.I. and Earnhardt's stepmother, has apparently rejected requests before. Michael Waltrip, who drove the No. 15 Napa Chevrolet for D.E.I. from 2001 to 2004, including two Daytona 500 victories, left the company and took Napa with him in 2005. But D.E.I. did not let Waltrip take the No. 15. Waltrip now drives the No. 55 Napa Toyota for his own race team; Paul Menard, a rookie at D.E.I., drives the No. 15.

''I personally don't think it's worth much of anything without him being in it,'' Rick Hendrick said of Earnhardt in an interview last month. ''I have no idea what's going to happen to the 8. I don't know what our number is going to be. But whatever number it will be will feel good to him and will feel good to us.''

An announcement may be made soon because companies like Dyer's Motorsports Authentics need time to prepare merchandise for next season. Ultimately, Earnhardt and Hendrick Motorsports could benefit financially from a new number. It worked for Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. He wore a No. 8 jersey for years before switching to No. 24 last season. In 2005-6, his final season wearing No. 8, he ranked fourth in the N.B.A. in jersey sales. Last season, his first in No. 24, he ranked first. ''There's an argument to be made that if they changed the number, all of Junior's fans have got to buy new T-shirts and new jackets and stuff with a different number on it,'' Ganis said.

If Earnhardt starts winning races again and challenges for series championships in a new number, fans may forget about the 8.

''He's doing this at a time in his career where I think he's gone on record -- he has some unfinished business in the sport as far as what he wants to accomplish,'' Dyer said. ''Certainly he wants that championship. We haven't had the phenomenon of Dale Earnhardt Jr. as series champion yet. Certainly that'd be a huge event in the Nascar licensing world.''